Cinque Terre

I have always wanted to see Cinque Terre, which  means 5  towns. We hired a private guide and Allessandro picked us up at 8AM sharp on Thursdsy morning. It was an hour's drive and we stopped at Pisa on the way to see the famous leaning tower. Then we headed to Cinque Terre which was another hour's drive.  We started to climb into the Tuscan hills and suddenly the sea came into view. It was a crystal clear day with perfect temperature. Susan was not cold and I was not hot - simply perfect. The dramatic cliffs and crashing waves was breathtaking.  And we climbed and climbed. Alessandro let us off and Susan and I walked down to the first village. Down to the sea, through the narrow twisting streets we went. Each turn presenting a different view. Italy is such a country of wonders. The people are friendly and happy to see you, the food is to die for. We took the train to the next village and had more amazing views.   Here we found a restaurant, Bar Gio, and had a wonderful lunch of pasta with pesto and salad Caprese. After relaxing for a bit, Susan headed off to hike to the next village, 2 kilometers and I headed for the train. Of course, the train was delayed (Italians are not much for time tables) and an hour later I rode to the next village. About an hour after that Susan arrived and we were both tired by then. 

Alessandro picked us up, I bought a pair of Italian sandles so I could get out of the sneakers, and we were off. More beautiful scenery on the way down. We went through Carrerra where the white marble is from. The view of the quarry was amazing. As you all know my son in law, Greg,  is in the tile and flooring business so I sent him pics of the quarry. I will try to post on here soon. It's not cooperating at the moment. I think I iwll need Heather (or Colton's) help to get the pictures up!!! 😘

We ended up at Lucca for a short trip around. Susan was very excited by the music festival that is there but no one was playing the day we were there. 

We retuned at 9PM. We were beat but oh, what an amazing day